Improving mindfulness through self-connection

Introduction: Mindfulness-based practices have received significant attention recently due to the numerous benefits that result from increased mindfulness. One construct, self-connection, is less well-known but appears to relate to mindfulness. Objective: The current study experimentally manipulated self-connection in an attempt to increase people's mindfulness. Method: A sample of 66 participants journaled for one week. Half of them discussed their days while the other half wrote about aspects of their day that related to self-connection. Results: No significant difference in mindfulness emerged between groups after the week of journaling. However, those who journaled about self-connection were significantly more mindful a month later. In contrast, no sustained or significant increase in mindfulness emerged in the control group. Conclusion: Although limited by its sample size, this study provides initial support for self-connection and its ability to improve mindfulness. More studies are needed to further examine self-connection and its relationship to mindfulness for both researchers and practitioners.